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This print is
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A902

Original

w54" x h31"

$416

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A902x

Half

w38" x h22"

$208

$462

3" frame

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Read the full Chart History here:

This beautiful manuscript chart is in the
hand of Mr. George Alexander Frazer but it is the work of Henry Wolsey Bayfield
and his team of surveyors.Bayfield is revered, even today, for his dedication to surveying the
Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States as well as for his attention
to detail.

The beautiful chart presented here almost
belies the suffering which Bayfield and Collins had to endure in the making of
it.Frequently having to endure ‘clouds’
of ‘moschettoes’ at the west end of the lake, along the Detroit river and
up in to lake St. Clair. Poor diet, inclement weather and sheer loneliness weer also factors. Bayfield completed the survey
of the north and south shore of Lake Erie and of the shoreline of Lake St.
Clair and the St Clair River in 1817. Malaria was a constant threat and at one
point Bayfield was forced to have two weeks off work in Amherstburg to recover
from an attack of ‘ague’.

The
chart has no less than eleven insets of harbors and towns around the coast of
the lake.These are clockwise from
top left:The mouth of the River
Detroit with Amherstburgh with many soundings up the river; A Sketch of a Small
River ten miles to the Westward of Buffalo which includes the location of a ‘(likely
much needed) Tavern’; A sketch of the mouth of the River ‘Segnan’ with notes on
the ever shifting sand bank or bar; A Sketch of the mouth of the ‘Cayanoga’
River with the village of ‘Cleveland’ and several other buildings; A Survey of ‘Miamis’
Bay; A Survey of the entrance of the River Niagara which shows a current of five
and three quarts miles per hour along with numerous soundings, General Porter’s
house (Porter served as the Quartermaster General for the New York State
Militia in 1812 and later in 1828 as the US Secretary of War) along with Fort Erie
and the town of ‘Buffaloe’;A
Survey of the Inner and Outer Bays of Long Point; A Survey of ‘Put In Bay’ and
the Adjacent Islands with detailed soundings; A Sketch of, with detailed notes
on the American Naval depot located there and the ‘Presquisle (Presque Isle)
Harbour’ and the Town of Erie itself; A Survey of Mohawk Bay with detailed
soundings; A Sketch of Grand River with a note that the river is ‘sometimes
shut by the waves’ along with some buildings.

Many of the insets include distance scales
in either; feet, yards or miles as appropriate.What stands-out above all else on this survey is the
detailed depiction of the trees along the shores and the beautiful layout of
the chart as a whole.The original
colours are vibrant and the detail even goes so far as to record a ‘shout
reported near this place’ just above the tiny island of East Sister at the
Western end of the lake SSE of the entrance to the River Detroit.

The overall survey of the Great Lakes
region was instigated by the British in (late) response to the war of 1812-14
between the British and Americans.The war had been fought for a number of reasons including; British
interference with American shipping, the seizure of American sailors, trade
restrictions with France, with whom Britain was at war in 1812, and British
support of Native American land claims which were limiting European American
expansion.Much of the war was
fought in the Great Lakes region and indeed at the naval battle of 10 September
1813, on Lake Erie
nine vessels of the United States
Navy defeated and captured six British naval vessels. This ensured
American control of the lake for the rest of the war, which in turn allowed the
Americans to recover Detroit
and win the Battle of the
Thames, which in turn enabled them to break the Indian
confederation of Tecumseh.
It was one of the biggest naval battles of the War of 1812 and one of the British
navy’s worst defeats to that date. The American commander Master CommandantOliver Hazard Perry
instantly became a National hero.

Henry Bayfield was seconded to work with the
veteran surveyor Captain William Owens, in order to assist him in the greater
survey with a view to strengthening Canadian defenses against future attack by
the Americans. He took up his post in January 1816 by which time Owens had
already completed initial surveys of large portions of the lower Great Lakes.On his arrival Bayfield immediately
impressed Owens with his intellect and propensity to learn new skills.

By the end of the end of the 1816 season, Bayfield
had mapped the American shore of Lake Ontario at the eastern end of the lake.
With this project completed, he had worked on the Canadian shore of the St.
Lawrence from the Thousand Islands to the Bay of Quinte in Lake Ontario. He
also did a survey of the harbor of Toronto.

Just when Bayfield was preparing to head
back to England in accordance with orders Owens, faced with the prospect of
losing his most valuable team member, appealed to the Admiralty that Bayfield
remain in Canada under appointment as an assistant surveyor.

Bayfield accepted the employment without
hesitation and, as fate would have it, at the beginning of the new season in
1817 just when the whole survey team was due to come together at Fort Erie
Captain Owens received orders to return to England immediately, taking all his
officers except Lt. Bayfield.

Most unexpectedly at the tender age of
22yrs Henry Bayfield was left alone, excepting one assistant, Philip Edward
Collins Midshipman, and an occasional volunteer in the form of Lt. Lieutenant Henry Renny of the Royal Engineers to the
role of Surveyor-in-Chief of the three Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River
and Gulf.All of which by
accounts, he took-on with characteristic calm.